Setting up an Internet Forum - Tips on Making the Rules
Setting up an Internet Forum - Tips on Making the Rules
So you're setting up your boards, getting the theme ready and preparing for the opening day. But no site is complete without a rules list!
Creating them is the easy part. I'll describe what's worked best for me--minimal, very important rules. You'll want to pay careful attention to what you put down here to get things as fine tuned as possible. Chances are you'll be revising them anyway once the forum begins because you cannot foresee exactly how they'll work for you or what problems will arise on your own community. Every forum is unique. But here's hoping this little article saves you a few headaches.
General rules of conduct: these are your basics, that you'll want to have up no matter what kind of forum yours is. It's telling your members to treat others kindly, and report rule breaks to staff if they occur rather than try and handle them on their own. With few exceptions, members cannot handle rule breaks by others well on their own. First, chances are they aren't "staff material," and may not have the skills necessary. Second, other members often resent being told what to do by a fellow member. Though a little hint here and there of, "Psst! You're not allowed to double post," is generally harmless, the problems arise when members try to handle larger issues on their own like fights. I would forbid this and require they report the issue privately to staff to handle.
If you restrict content in terms of ratings {PG-13 is the most common one} you want to include that in your general rules.
Signatures--Those areas at the bottom of your posts where you can place graphics, text etc. of your choice. If you don't like giant signatures you put a rule on max size at the getgo. If you can, use your forum's technology to limit image sizes in the signature. Use your forum's technology to limit anything you can that the rules forbid. That's one less thing for you and your staff to have to enforce manually. As things get busier you'll thank your lucky stars for any such time savers. Some common built-in forum limiters are avatar size limitations, double post stoppers and signature limitations.
Post word counts--Some people hate having ultra short posts on their forum and place a minimum on how short a post can be. This is to ensure that each post contains something worth responding to. I personally have no such minimum and feel that a forum should allow for short posts since threads are conversations, and conversations are random, messy and have no word limitation. But it's up to you, and if you want to place a minimum make sure it's in your rules.
Keeping things on topic--Some forums are stricter about this than others. I have found that the best thing to do is outline what each board is about in its title and a brief summary on the outside, sometimes with a pinned up topic inside for further explanation, and that is generally all that's needed. If someone posts out an off topic thread that belongs better on another board, just move it there without a fuss. You can place "please post topics in the correct board" in your rules just for added caution, but all in all I have not seen that this is or should be a big deal. A better rule is "no spam," because posts made entirely off topic with obnoxious things annoy everyone, and annoyed people don't stick around long if the staff don't do anything about it.
Most forums other than general discussion forums have rules and features specific to their type. I would place them in a separate topic from your general conduct rules since these are your specialised ones, and it will probably include some how-to stuff as well. If your forum is a trading/selling forum, outline the rules for conducting sales and trades here, for instance. Here is where it's handy to have already become a member of forums similar to your own. You get to see how their rules work for them and know better how to fashion your own.
How to word your rules? First, make them as brief as possible. The less there is to read, the more each word will be absorbed and remembered. Long rule sets look daunting and are less likely to be read at all.
ALWAYS use absolutes in the wording of your rules: don't, must, can't, do, can, may not, etc. NEVER use suggestive type words--avoid these like the plague: should, try, probably, shouldn't, maybe, I suggest that, etc. Don't suggest. It never works. Either allow it, or don't allow it. Don't go halfway. "It is suggested that you try to avoid posts that are too short," isn't a rule. "You may not post a post under 5 words long," is a rule. And words such as "large," "small," "balanced," etc. are arbitrary terms and cannot stand on their own in a rule. Putting "No large images in signatures," isn't a rule. "No images over 500 pixels wide or 400 pixels tall in signatures," IS a rule.
Where to put your rules? I use a board up at or near the top of the forum made only for the rules, and listing them there, in an easy to see place. Other options are using an announcing function on your forum to make the rules topics visible on all or many boards. This is a very easy way to broadcast them. Rules specific only to certain boards can get posted or announced just on those boards if you prefer. For a roleplaying forum, placing the rules for the game portion of the site in a special rules board with all the other rules, is the way I've seen that works best, because roleplaying games will require a larger rule set than other types of forums.
If when you open up, you find many of your members aren't reading the rules, take steps to make them more visible. If you can, set your forum up to send the rules in a file by email or private message upon registration.
Do your members like your rules or do they find one or more of them bothersome? If you notice issues over the rules, especially multiple issues over a certain rule, bring it up in a discussion and see whether that given rule really is necessary. It's possible to do a trial period of a few weeks without the rule and see how the forum runs. If it works out, that's one less rule for your members to have to remember and you to have to enforce!
conversely, if you see your members complaining about a given thing over and over, that is not restricted by the rules, consider adding it as a rule, or including it under an existing rule. Ask them if they'd like to try this as a rule and go for it if they {or almost all of them} say yes. The happier your members are the longer they'll stay and the more friends they'll invite!
That brings us to our next topic--enforcing your rules. You will get members who don't listen. For people who are new, they might not realise the rule they are breaking. I generally go pretty gently early on with new members regarding minor rule breaks. Usually this corrects the problem. If it doesn't, and the same member's name keeps arising in rule break reports, it's time for something more stringent. I warn that a ban from the forum will happen if they don't stop. Then, if they still don't stop, it's a ban. Follow through on ANY such threat you make. However long the ban should be depends on the severity of the rule break. It's unfortunate, but sometimes a member just won't work out, and it is best to remove them, even at the cost of their activity, because chances are if they are breaking all those rules they are annoying the crap out of the rest of your members and will cost you a lot more activity and cohesiveness if you let them stay. {More on this subject in "When to Ban."}
What if you decide the rules should be changed? Be careful. Members may react adversely to rule changes, especially rule removals {this is surprising but true}, if they are too extreme. Any changes you make should be gradual, step by step over time. Too much change at once harms the stability of your forum. People need to know just what their limits are, and if they are changed too quickly and made unclear, members become unhappy. Change is the only constant, but you need periods of stability on your board to give everyone the chance to learn how things are. Slight changes over time, that are made clear in advance, will then be better received.
You may notice especially as your board grows that many members, particularly new ones, are afraid of you. Even though you've been sweet as a daisy, greeting people and helping wherever you can. The fear persists; it is part of human nature to fear authority. Just be nice and friendly and approachable and they should come around; be gentle but firm in your enforcement of the rules, remain consistent above all; if a rule's on the books you've got to enforce it; though a first time member will often break rules without knowing they are doing so and if they are willing, a gentle heads-up about it is usually all they need, and they will fall in line once informed.
Give them a reason to respect you, but not fear you. Don't be a tyrant.
It is easier than you think to slip into dictator territory. Of course, technically speaking, all forums are kind of dictatorship. You are the owner and hold complete control ultimately. But power tripping is a bad thing and your members will notice if you do it. Here are some tips to avoid this.
--Don't be paranoid. Even if you don't trust your members, come off looking like you do. You'll be spending lots of time with them! If someone breaks a rule or says something iffy, don't fly off the handle. Remain calm and enforce your rules in a firm, gentle, neutral tone.
--Don't be overly restrictive. Is your rules list huge? Less is more. Keep only the rules you absolutely need, and don't add a new rule in based on every new rule break you encounter. chances are the rule break already falls under an existing rule, though there are exceptions they are very few.
--Don't fly off the handle and ban or scream at someone for every tiny thing. Being in charge is no excuse for being nasty and overly controlling. In fact, your actions are held to higher standards than those of your members; if there's anyone who needs to always be patient and polite on your forum, it's you. Your members learn from your example. And who wants to be on a board with an administrator who's a micromanaging, control freak grump?
--Don't give yourself perks to place you above your members. I don't mean make everyone else an administrator, I mean things like this: being the only person who's allowed to have a picture in their signature, or a second avatar; being the only person who can post this or that, {other than rule enforcement stuff} or giving yourself advantages in your forum's games/roleplays if it has any. These things may look small on the surface but they are not. Members see it as unfair, and power tripping. And it is.
Some people use a separate administrator account to deal out the rule breaks, while they take on a member account for themselves just to "be one of the guys/girls" and fraternise with the members without that fear of authority getting in the way. While I see why people do this, I'm not in favour of it. It won't help disarm your members' fear of you the admin; it will only make it worse since now the admin isn't even someone they can get to know. It's just this shadowy presence that swoops in every time someone screws up. The more candid you are as a plain old honest administrator the faster people will warm to you and learn from your example--and you won't be having to switch accounts back and forth all the time. That can be a real pain. Your members CAN warm up to you as a regular human being if you give them the chance! AND word will get around how nice and understanding the management is.
Here's hoping these tips help you avoid becoming hated and feared, and help you become liked and respected on a friendly, fun forum.
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